Lonelady
| Lonelady | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Julie Campbell |
| Genres | Post-punk |
| Occupation(s) | solo artist, singer, songwriter, producer |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals, synths, cello, sampler, bass, electronic drums |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Labels | Warp, Too Pure |
Julie Campbell, known as LoneLady, is a solo artist from Manchester, England. Her music is influenced by the post-punk era, later integrating dance and funk influences. She first started making music on a 4-track cassette recorder in her towerblock flat in Manchester while completing a Fine Art degree. LoneLady's stark, early first gigs featured Campbell alone playing electric guitar along to a drum machine. This would later evolve to a 4-piece band live.
Campbell came to the attention of Warp signing with them in 2009, and her first album Nerve Up was released in 2010 to widespread critical acclaim. The NME called it a "unique, brilliant debut ... we should celebrate LoneLady as the arrival of a fresh and invigorating voice whose talent transcends time and space and influence" and it also drew praise from music journalist Paul Morley.
Campbell's music is characterised by a lo-fi, economical approach; she has said that "Working with basic tools, mainly an 8-track cassette recorder, a telecaster and a drum machine forced me to be economical and inventive, and set an aesthetic blueprint for the way I like to work, to keep things stark and urgent."
Inspired by psychogeography, with dance and funk influences coming to the fore, Campbell's second album Hinterland was released to widespread critical acclaim in 2015.The Quietus called it a "vibrant and urgent combination of genealogy and vision – and it is this that truly makes it a masterpiece." All four singles released from Hinterland reached the 'A' Playlist on BBC 6 Music and Campbell also received a Sky Arts nomination for Best Breakthrough Artist.
Julie Campbell was born in Ashton and grew up in Audenshaw, an area in East Manchester. Since the age of 18 she has lived just outside Manchester's city centre. Her early lo-fi home recordings were released on CDR and 7-inch via small local label Filthy Home Recordings.
She came to the attention of Warp, signing with them in 2009. Nerve Up (2010) was recorded in a crumbling room of a mill in Miles Platting, a run-down area of East Manchester, co-produced by Campbell and Guy Fixsen (Laika, My Bloody Valentine). The room was purpose built using breeze-blocks and salvaged scrap. Campbell's love of raw industrial spaces has been present from day one, infiltrating into her psyche and her music, and this has also meant a tendency to avoid professional recording studios.
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